News Briefs

6/3/2014, Sivan 5, 5774

Syrian Foreign Minister's First Appearance since Rumored Dead

Syria’s Foreign Minister, Walid al-Muallem, voted in the country’s presidential elections at a polling station in the Prime Minister’s residence in Damascus. The 73-year-old minister was hospitalized in a Beirut hospital this March and underwent open-heart surgery and this was his first public appearance since reports emerged of his fragile condition and rumors surfaced that al-Muallem had died.

After placing his vote, the Foreign Minister said that, “Today the Syrian nation will decide who they want and only the Syrian nation can legitimize the next leader.” He added that “The aggressive states demonstrated that they failed and are stuck at an impasse. Today, Syria begins to take the route of a political solution.”